Court denies Samsung's request to postpone Galaxy Nexus ban

Apple wields the mighty patent hammer with very effective results

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A California court denied Samsung's request for a stay on a preliminary injunction against sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the U.S.

Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern California U.S. District Court issued the injunction on Friday, banning sales of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus "and any product that is no more than colorably different from the specified product and infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604."

Samsung subsequently requested that Judge Koh suspend the injunction pending an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals or a decision by the Federal Circuit, but Koh denied the request.

The patent in question is owned by Apple, and relates to a "universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system." In other words, a search function.

The irony of getting Google's products banned over a search-related patent is hopefully not lost on Apple.

There are plenty of Androids in the sea

"Although some consumers may be disappointed that they cannot purchase the Galaxy Nexus, the Galaxy Nexus, as Samsung itself has repeatedly insisted, is not Samsung's only smartphone product on the market," wrote Judge Koh in her decision not to stay the sales injunction.

Samsung argued that the Galaxy Nexus is the only smartphone that offers a "pure" Android experience within its price range.

"We believe this ruling will ultimately reduce the availability of superior products to consumers in the United States," Samsung said today in a statement issued to TechRadar.

"We will continue to pursue an appeal of the Galaxy Nexus preliminary injunction, which we filed on July 2 to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Meanwhile, we are also working closely with Google to resolve this matter," the statement continued.

On Tuesday, Apple posted a $95.6 million court-ordered bond to cover damages to Samsung should the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Tab 10.1 bans later be reversed.

The tech giants' patent battles rage ever onward, with Apple alleging that Samsung is in violation of eight patents across a total of 17 devices.